How to Free Distressed Patient and Can You Save Him in Baldur’s Gate 3?

The Distressed Patient cutscene in the House of Healing is undoubtedly one of the most gut-wrenching scenes in the often macabre world of Baldur’s Gate 3. This brutal moment might have evoked a sense of pity for the patient in your heart, making you wonder if there is any way to help the poor soul escape. So, without further ado, let’s find out whether it is possible to save the Distressed Patient from the House of Healing.

How Do I Release the Distressed Patient in BG3?

You can free the Distressed Patient in Baldur’s Gate 3 by defeating the surgeon, Malus Thorm and acquiring a key to liberate the patient. The ability to free the Distressed Patient alive by using a key was introduced in Patch 1, which was released on 25 August. 

That said, if you’re playing on the latest version of Baldur’s Gate 3, you don’t have to worry about not being able to free the patient, although, we must warn you that it is not an easy feat to accomplish. You can free the Distressed Patient by following our steps below:

1. First, make sure that you have access to healing potions and spells (trust us, you will be needing lots of healing if you are to win this fight). 
2. Attack the surgeon, Malus Thorm, and the Sisters from a distance using ranged weapons. This should give you the element of surprise and hopefully allow you to deal some considerable damage before the cultists’ eyes turn towards you.
3. Avoid using AoE spells near the Distressed Patient as you can deal collateral damage to the patient, leading to his death. 
4. You most probably will have to save scum a lot, since Malus Thorm can deal enough damage to kill your character in a single blow if you are unfortunate to get slashed by his claws.
5. Once you have killed the cultists, you can loot the surgeon’s body to obtain a key and finally free the Distressed Patient by using it.

Once the Distressed Patient is free, the tormented NPC will run around in panic before eventually despawning. So, if you were hoping to unravel the patient’s story, unfortunately, you will have to use your imagination.

Can We Save the Distressed Patient Without Attacking Malus Thorm?

If you are wondering whether there is an alternative way to free the Distressed Patient without fighting Malus Thorm, you can do so by choosing the right dialogue choices and passing the skill checks while interacting with Malus Thorm.

During the cutscene, you will first have to accept his invitation to be his student. After you successfully do so, you have to follow the steps below in order to get rid of the cultists:

1. Examine the Sisters and their implementation.
2. Tell the surgeon that their blades are uneven and they require further training.
3. When Thorm asks you how to steady their blades, persuade him to let them hone their skills on each other. This should lead the Sisters to kill each other, leaving only Thorm.
4. Next, you have to deceive the surgeon into showing the path of Shar. As a result, the surgeon will perform the ritual on himself, killing himself in the process.

Now, with the followers of Shar dead, you can interact with the Distressed Patient and free him by using the Knock spell. After the patient is freed, however, he will walk a few steps before falling dead, and then rising again in undead form. This fight should not last long as the walking corpse will only have 1 HP. If you happen to have a Moon Lantern, then the Distressed Patient will not rise again, and instead will simply have a merciful death.

For more guides and information on Baldur’s Gate 3, check out these related pieces from our team: How To Beat Auntie Ethel & Kill the Hag in 2 rounds, Ultimate Spell list and How To Remove Parasites.